Means for re-forming coil springs



Oct. 15, 1929. J. H. cHANcY 1,731,753.-

` l MEANS FOR REFORMING COIL SPRINGS I Fild Aug. 29, 1928 f, 2 sheets-shut 1 l Q A E m attorney.

Oct. l5, 1929. J. H. cHANcY MEANS FOR lI IEFORMINCJ" COIL SPRINGS 2 Sheets-Shoot 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1928 6.. 3mm/foie /a/wes (7am/'#00 Cha/795 Patented Oct. 15, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES HAMILTON oHANoY, OE AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, To RECLAMATION SERVICE COMPANY, A CORPORATION or GEORGIA MEANS FOR RIE-FORMING COIL SPRINGS Application led August 29, 1928. Serial No. 302,761

This invention relates to means for reforming coil springs, and is particularly useful in restoring to further usefulness old springs that have lost their original shape and resiliency under severe and continued service. The cushioningv springs used On railway trucks, for example, need to be reformed or replaced after they have become defective in service; and it hashitherto been the practice to spread such springs to their original pitch by inserting a chisel or other suitable wedge between the adjacent turns of the coil, the chisel being progressively worked around between the turns until the entire coil has been thus reformed. Such a mode of reforming the spring is obviously very slow and tedious and depends for results on the skill of the workman who is doing the job. Moreover, there is always the possibility that the pitch of the coil mayy not be uniform throughout.

Accordingly, the present invention seeks to provide a means for expediting and facilitating the reshaping of a coil spring, as well as insuring accuracy and uniformity in results. Other objects and desirable features of the invention, more or less ancillary to the foregoing, will yappear in the course of the following descriptionof an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying` drawings forming part of this specification, iny which like numbers of reference denote like parts wherever they occur,

'Figure 1 is a plan view of a coil spring reforming machine made in accordance with this invention; Y

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same with the coil forming vdies thereof in retracted position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal central ysectional view of the machine with the coil forming dies closed against a coil spring;

Figure 4 is an end elevation; Y

Figure 5 is .a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line. 5--5 in Figure 2; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6*-6 in Figure 2. Y

The illustrative embodiment Aof the spirit of the invention herein disclosed comprises a table 1, borne by suitable standards 2 juxtarposed to itsopposite ends and bolted .to the underside of the table and to its flanges 3- that depend therefrom at opposite sides thereof, the table being preferably of channel beam formation, and the standards and braces and brackets being preferably of band bar formation, so that it may be cheaply and rigidly `constructed of wrought iron or steel of available or standardshapes. A cylindrical mandrel 4, of a diameter adapted to it loosely but closely in the interior of the coil spring to be reformed, stands upright on the vtable 1, the lower end of the mandrel being preferably provided with a depending cylindrical stem 5, that ts into a positioning socket or round Opening 6 in the center of the top of the table 1, so that the mandrel may be readily removed by lifting it from t-he table. A pair of dies or die sections 7 ofsubstantially Semi-cylindrical sleeve formation are adapted when brought together to vfit around the exterior side of the coil spring, the said dies 'presenting inner faces that are substantially complemental to the outer side of the reformed spring, there being helical grooves 8 therein that are the counterpart of the turns of the coil spring, and helical tongues 9 of wedgeshaped cross-section that intermediate adinto thespace between adjacent turns ofthe spring with the apex or thin edge 10 of the already on the market and whose construction is well known to those skilled in the art. Such a cylinder 11 is secured centrally under the table 1 by means of an L-shaped bracket 12, bolted to the top end of the cylinder and to ,8.0 jacent turns of the grooves 8 and project Y one of the flanges 3 of the table, and by means of a substantially S-shaped bracket 13, bolted to the rear lateral flanges 14 of the cylinder and to the other one of the flanges 3. rlhe piston rod 15 of the cylinder reciprocates through'the lower end 16 of the latter, being normally held in elevated position by means of a sprino in the cylinder, and being depressed against the action of the spring when air is admitted into the upper portion of the cylinder above the piston by the means to be presently described. A head 17, provided with diametrically opposed lugs 13, isA affixed to the stem 19 that depends from the lower end of the rod 15. kPairs of L-shaped brackets 2O are bolted to the underside of the table 1 at opposite sides of the cylinder 11, each pair presenting opposingadjacent depending arms 21, which straddle a lever 22, pivote-d at 23 intermediately of its length to the lower ends of said arms 21 so as to be able to rock in a vertical longitudinal plane. The upper end of each lever is pivoted at 24 to one end of a respective link 25, whose other end is pivoted at 26 to a pair of lugs 27, formed integral with and projecting fromthe middle of the outer side of the respective die 7 adjacent thereto. The lower ends of levers 22 are pivoted at y I 28 to one end of toggle links 29, whose other ends are pivoted at 30 to respective lugs 13.

Slots 31 are formed in the table 1 to permit the passage therethrough of the reciprocable levers 22. Brackets 2O are preferably steadied or braced by means of struts or' straps 32 and 33, the ends of the straps 32 and 33 being connected to the. brackets 2G-by means of the pivot pins or bolts 23,v and the intermediate portions thereof being arcuateshaped to fit the side of the cylinder 11. The straps or braces 32 and 33 are preferably bolted together at opposite sides of the cylinlder by bolts 34, passing through the blocks 35 interposed between sai/d bars 32 and 33 to maintain them in. suitable spaced relation to one another. The rear brace 32 is also preferably bolted to the cylinder 11. Air is supplied -to cylinder 11 by means of a pipe 36, that leads from a threefway control cock 37, situated at the right end of the table in front of the anterior flange 3 of the table, to a bend 38, where .it passes through an opening said and under the table 1, from whence` it bends horizontally toward the cylinder and then bends down into communication with the npper end of the interior of the cylinder. The pipe line 39 conveys compressed air from a Vsuitable source to the valve 37. When the handle 40 of valve 37 is in the vertical position shown in Figure 2, the interior of the cylinder is in communication with the atmos- .When the handle 40 is turned towards the ri'frht communication is effected between the and the details of the valve need not therefore be described.

The structure of the machine and the dies having been fully described, the method of operating the machine and" of reforming coil spring will be readily understood? The coil spring 42 that is to be reformed is heated to a suitable temperature, depending on the nature of thematerial of which the spring is made, and, in the' case of railway truck springs, this temperature is approximately eighteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature the spring will yield to the reforming force and will maintain its new shape when the reshaping force has been withdrawn. The heated spring is placed around the mandrel 4 and in such a rotative position with relation to the dies thatthe arcuate tongues 9 of the dies will enter between the adjacent turns ofY the spring` Valve 37 is then manipulated to admit air into the cylinder 11, driving the piston and the piston rod 15 down against the opposition of the cylinder spring, and spreading the lower ends of the levers 22 further apart throughithe intervention of the toggle links 29, thereby driving the upper ends of the levers 22 closer together, and, -through links w25, the dies 7 toward one another and against the spring 42ltliereby changing its shape to the desired form as the dies are'broughjt to gether as shown in Figure 3. It will be ob'- served that the Yeffect of the toggle mechanism is such that the dies exert the greatest 'force on the spring when they are closestl together,

and that this is as it shouldbe. lWhen the Y spring 42 has been reformed, the cock lever 40 is returned to the position shown in Figure 2, cutting off the supply of compressed air toV the cylinder 11 andopening the cylinder to the atmosphere through nipple 41, thereby permitting the springof the cylinder 11 to lift the piston' and linove the 'dies 7 vaway from one lanother to their extremefouter or Y normal positions, so that the ,foregoingv sequence of operations maybe re-enacted'to reform another spring after thefirst spring has been removed` from the mandrel 4. l,

ltwill be observed that the die actsupon all portions of the 'spring 4 2 simultaneously, thereby insuring precision and uniformity in the product and facilitating andexpediting the operation. Themacliine also occupies a minimum of floor` space and is arranged with regard to the convenience of the operator, by

reason ofthe dies being located on the table and the mechanism for operating the dies being underneath the table, a pit 43 being 'formed in the floor 44 to accommodate the lower end of theV piston and associated parts.

liao

I hereby reserve the benefit of all changes in form, arrangement, order, or use of parts, as it is evident that many minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. A coil spring reformer embodying means for positioning` a spring, and a die shiftable toward and away from the positioned spring and adapted to reshape the spring into the desired form.

2. A coil spring reformer embodying a mandrel for the interior of the spring, and a die shiftable radially toward and away from the spring on said mandrel and adapted to reshape it to the desired form on its inward stroke.

3. A coil spring reformer including a mandrel for centering the spring, and a plurality of co-acting dies disposed respectively at opposite sides of the mandrel and movable toward and away from the mandrel, said dies being adapted to reform the spring as they approach the said mandrel.

4f. In a coil spring reformer, means for holding a spring, a plurality of co-acting dies adapted to reciprocate radially with relation to the spring holding means and thereby to reform the latter.

5. In a coil spring reformer, means for holding a spring, a plurality of opposing coacting dies adapted to reciprocate radially with relation to the spring holding means on l their inward strokes, and means for normally maintaining said dies in their outer positions.

6. In a coil spring reforming machine, means for centering a spring, a plurality of opposing co-acting dies reciprocable radially with relation to the spring centering means and adapted to reform the spring on their inward strokes, means for normally maintaining the dies in their outer positions, and means for moving the dies inwardly.

7. In a coil spring reforming machine, a table, a mandrel for a spring positioned thereon at a predetermined point, a spring-reforming die shiftable on the table with relation to the mandrel, and means for shifting the die.

8. In a coil spring reforming machine, a table adapted to hold a spring, a plurality of opposing co-acting dies reciprocable on the table radially with relation to the spring supported on said table, and means for shifting said dies simultaneously. f

9. In a coil spring kreforming machine, means for positioning a spring, a die shiftable toward and away from the positioned spring and adapted to reshape the spring into the desired form, and means for shifting the die with relation to the spring.

l0. In a coil spring reforming machine, means for positioning a spring, a die shiftable radially toward and away from the spring on said positioning means, and adapt JAMES HAMILTON CHANCY. 

